WHEN THEY FINALLY COME AROUND, the four of them are strapped into flimsy wooden chairs, all pointing inwards to face each other. Alex can't help but visualise breaking her restraints and smashing the chair into their heads, before grabbing Tom and running. She doesn't account for Madelaine and Noah: they can do it themselves.

She acknowledges that that's fairly selfish to think, but simplistic morals went out of the window a very long time ago, right back when Noah first called her and requested her assistance.

Tom's head snaps around to stare intently at the doorway, and Madelaine is the first one to break their unspoken vow of silence.

"What?" She shouts, straining against the thick black ropes. "What do you want from us? We've done nothing wrong!"

Noah laughs sharply at this, before turning to look at her incredulously. "Done nothing wrong? Awsten, someone who we thought we could trust, murdered Michael! While we're on the topic, Michael had a girlfriend when that video was taken!" He breathes out. "I've definitely done some awful things in my life, and so did Lana, and so did everyone else."

The cultist doesn't respond, only moves around the circle fully to observe the shaking quartet, before stopping and standing in-between Noah and Alex. Where their arms should be, the material is distorted, and as they lift their hands, Alex catches sight of a burnt, scarred mess, ending at the wrists on both arms, as if they plunged their hands into scalding hot water.

Madelaine and Noah are still fighting, but Alex tunes them out. She watches in morbid excitement, almost, as they produce four pistols and hold them out towards them all. Reluctantly, Tom takes his, before Alex, Noah and Madelaine do the same.

"Only two of you are getting out of here. Two must die. Attempt to shoot any of us, and we will dispatch all four of you, like we dispatched the pink-haired one and the loud purple one."

Alex shakes as the cultist slowly glides away, leaving the four of them staring petrified at each other.

"We have to. If we try to exploit a loophole, all four of us will die." Madelaine says, looking down at the floor. "I vote I die. This mess was because of me."

Tom doesn't look up at her, only continues staring at the floor. "How is it?"

She opens her mouth, before shaking her head. "It might be a coincidence, but I said how cool it'd be to be involved in some sort of internet mystery. Then this happened, and... I just feel responsible for it all."

Before anyone can react, a loudspeaker somewhere crackles into life. "Hurry up. Thirty seconds."

"Kill me and Madelaine." Noah instructs, his voice far too emotionless. "Lana is dead, no-one'll want me after this fiasco... Alex wasn't even part of this to begin with, she doesn't deserve to suffer more."

"Fifteen seconds."

Her hands are shaking as Alex lifts up the gun and aims it at Noah, before flicking the safety off and pressing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Ten seconds."

They don't want to risk it. Two of them have to get out, to tell the media and expose this whole scandal.

"Five seconds."

"Do it." Madelaine says, and the sound of two gunshots fills the empty warehouse.